Quote:No, you missed the point. Yes, they will protest against something that has a liberal hook, like AIDS, gay rights, forcing under aged girls into marriage, but not against the common mundane everyday abuse and barbarity of the regime itself.When was the last time the Miami Exiles held a rally about gay rights? Or the NRA held a rally in support of ousted left-wing democratic governments in South America? There is nobody who lives up to that standard, although I think you'd find 'liberals' come a lot closer than you're willing to give them credit for, if your focus were to drift from attention-grabbing campus radicals (I went to school with this schmuck, I know that type well enough) to the broader liberal community, especially online.
Your claim was that 'liberals' NEVER spoke out against regimes hostile to America, and just ignore their human rights violations, presumably because that would violate the stereotypical 'blame the US for everything' mentality. A trivial example from the front page of the biggest left-wing American political blog that showed up the very next day was enough to poke a hole in that assertion. There are certainly feminist liberals who are plenty loud in their opposition to the way Sharia law has been implemented in many Islamic countries.
Not that I would ever, in any shape or form, advocate visiting HufPo, but they do seem to have quite a lot of coverage of these exact topics you're accusing liberals of ignoring...
Quote:Yes, have the "Great Satan" tell the Ayatollahs to ignore the Koran. Do you not think it would be rather impotent?Iran is not just populated by Ayatollahs, potential Suicide Bombers, and apolitical rugmakers. There are pressure groups, and they do matter. The influence of the religious extreme, while very powerful, can be moderated in many ways: by undermining the clerics, by promoting less extreme clerics, or by supporting other groups who are less focused on religion as a priority. How you conduct your diplomacy can affect these things, sometimes subtly, sometimes not. Since you are not sovereign there, you can't just say "we don't like this, stop it," but you can exert influence. But that influence fades quickly if all you have to say is "you're evil, and we think your religion is barbaric!" Then the Ayatollahs say the same thing right back at you, and nothing changes.
-Jester